REX

A small, shy-looking chameleon is transformed into a giant dinosaur each night in this imagination-stretching import. Every day a different child takes the class pet home, with the assignment to describe or draw a picture of what it does. Mackintosh’s pictures, drawn in a quick, childlike style on lined paper, tell different and far more exciting tales than the chatty comments. On Tuesday, for instance, when Hilary takes Rex home to her apartment and reports that he fell out the window, the accompanying scene shows a massive, toothy, fire-breathing monster climbing a skyscraper. Likewise, when he unexpectedly goes for a swim, his huge foot alone fills the pool; another time he’s dressed as Malibu Barbie, but the bikini top is barely visible on his scaly chest, and he—or rather, just his towering, tyrannosaur-like muzzle—is last seen sharing a bed with the delighted young narrator, who gets him for the entire weekend. Young readers, dinophiles and (if there are any) otherwise, will be eager to answer the closing question: “What would you do if Rex came to visit you?” (Picture book. 6-8)